This garden design was created for Whitaker PRTF.  This garden was designed and researched by Natasha Donnelly, Ph.D. and psychologist Carol Williams (safety, therapeutic concepts, and other sensory garden research). This design was created with the support of the Clinical Director Ray Newnam and Ben Markoch at NC State, now an alumnus who kindly measured the space and put our ideas into a drawing.

View the original garden design here.

Natasha brought this drawing to her job interview at Juvenile Justice where she introduced the idea and concept as part of her role. She worked on this design for a year at Juvenile Justice until reaching out to the NC State Horticultural Department for advice about plants where she was introduced to Anne Spafford and the NC State horticultural students.

This design has been instrumental in ongoing fundraisers, planning sessions, meetings, and the formation of our nonprofit organization, Trauma Focused Therapeutic Community Gardens – TFTC Gardens. TFTC Gardens provides an avenue for us to share our findings, research, and garden plans with at-risk populations who are interested in investing in gardens throughout the United States and the world.

Our first trauma-focused garden is scheduled to be installed during the summer of 2019 at Cumberland Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Fayetteville, NC.

Photo Credit: Priscilla Du Preez

According to the 18th century English poet Alfred Austin, “To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”

Dr. Natasha Donnelly, assistant manager of Juvenile Health Services, is the brainchild behind the project that will bring specially designed natural areas – sensory gardens – to Chatham Youth Development Center in Siler City and Cumberland Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Fayetteville, NC. Sensory gardens include plants and design elements that will provide experiences for heightened sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste.

Studies suggest that being able to see trees and flowers reduces agitation and aggression, and promotes healing. Donnelly envisions the gardens as a place where staff can more easily initiate healthy conversations with children in secure custody, and “a starting place for recovery, renewal and (to relearn) social skills for a healthier and more productive life.” These on-site gardens could also help the children to start developing skills working in the garden that can help them as they return to their communities.

Read the full article here.

Photo Credit: Juliana Malta